When the Chancellor visited the mountain troops on the Reiteralpe, the mood was about as mixed as the weather. He brought with him words of encouragement for the troops – but no new promises.
During a visit to the troops, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) defended the financial resources of the Bundeswehr for the coming years against criticism. “In 2017, we spent 37 billion euros on defense. Now, with the use of the special fund, the Bundeswehr’s budget is 75 billion. That’s practically a doubling,” he said during a visit to the mountain infantry brigade on the Reiteralpe near Bad Reichenhall.
The Mountain Infantry Brigade is one of the most specialised and best trained units within the Bundeswehr and has been involved in German missions abroad for decades.
Following the budget compromise of the traffic light coalition, there was criticism of the only small increase in the defense budget – among others from the Bundeswehr Association.
Scholz: Long-term perspective for the Bundeswehr
Scholz, on the other hand, stressed that the defense budget would continue to rise in the coming years: “In 2028, the Bundeswehr budget alone will amount to 80 billion, because we will then no longer be able to rely on the special fund. With this long-term perspective, the Bundeswehr can also position itself very differently than in the past.”
It is now possible to prepare orders and plans that are aimed at the decade and into the next, said Scholz. “That is actually the big qualitative difference, because we can now ensure that we do not have to procure at short notice, but that long-term agreements can be made.” This is important both for those who equip the Bundeswehr and for the troops themselves.
At the Reiteralpe, the Bundeswehr’s only high mountain training area at an altitude of around 1,700 meters, Scholz was shown how soldiers prepare for missions and possible battles in the mountains. In initially adverse but later better weather conditions, the mountain troops demonstrated how they move around in the field, how they can secure themselves and fight. It was the Chancellor’s third visit to the troops this year.
Source: Stern
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